Bees for Development Journal 130 March 2019
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING – tips from the field
Natural swarms: a great resource for sustainable beekeeping Kwame Aidoo, Bees for Development Ghana and Janet Lowore, Bees for Development UK Wild honey bee colonies and natural swarms
Swarming is the reproductive process of honey bee colonies. It occurs when conditions in the environment are conducive for colony build up and development. This period coincides with the honey flow season when the nest becomes full with bees, honey and bee bread. The nest space is congested, such that the colony needs more space. The swarming process is initiated and the colony divides: one half issues out and relocates in a cavity far away. The departing bees are a swarm, and if it is the first swarm of the season it is called a prime swarm. Prior to this condition, the queen lays many eggs to boost the colony’s population. Queen cells are built, sometimes up to ten. The queen cells can be identified in the congested nest looking like ground nut (peanut) pods. The developing queen larvae are provisioned with abundant royal jelly for 5 days and the cells are then sealed by worker bees until a young, virgin queen emerges 16 days after the egg was laid. Just before the young queens emerge, the old queen leaves the nest with about half of the bees. This prime swarm settles temporarily on a branch of a nearby tree, before moving to the new cavity which the swarm will settle and develop into a full colony. Meanwhile in the original colony, the first young queen to emerge will destroy her sibling queens and inherits the colony from her recentlydeparted mother. She goes out on a nuptial flight a few days later to mate with drones from other colonies in a congregation area high up in the sky. She returns to the nest and begins to lay eggs to build up the colony.
Figure 2. A swarm box set on the trunk of a tree
The swarming season
Photos © Kwame Aidoo
The time of the swarming season depends on the vegetation and climatic conditions of the area. Usually the swarming period coincides with the first few months of the honey flow season. Colonies which survive the dearth period build up quickly using abundant floral resources. In tropical West Africa, the swarming season begins from the end of the rainy season in July-August and continues to JanuaryFebruary.
Figure 1. A swarm box on a top-bar hive
Figure 3a. Application of a pulley system to set a swarm box high up in a tree 3
